Nail care method, a nail care product, and a nail care kit

ABSTRACT

There is provided a nail care method for treating the surface of a fingernail or a toenail to produce a nail having a smooth and desirably glossy appearance while minimizing the application of non-natural materials to the nail surface. Also, a nail care station is provided that is operable to perform the method of the present invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Nail polish removal receptacles are known which support or suspend aninsert structure to aid in the removal of hardened nail polish fromfingernails after a finger has been immersed in nail polish removercontained within the receptacle. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,195 toRobert W Thomas Jr discloses a nail polish remover devices in which areceptacle is provided with a sponge or sponge-like absorbent memberinsert. The sponge member insert is formed with an aperture forming afinger hole into which the finger is placed. The absorbent spongeabsorbs nail polish remover and upon insertion of the finger into thesponge aperture, the polished fingernail comes into contact with thesponge and nail polish remover solution to remove the polish from thenail. The solution and polish fragments are wiped from the insertedfingernail by the sponge as the fingernail is removed from thereceptacle jar.

Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,672 to Alvin M Walker et al discloses anail polish remover receptacle containing a plurality of downwardlyspaced apart free-floating legs with an inwardly curved end portion. Thelegs have bristles or brush like elements secured thereto which extendinward. When a person inserts a finger into the device, the finger willcontact the bristles and push the legs outward in such a manner that thenail polish remover liquid on the bristles will remove the nail polishfrom the fingernails.

Small rotary manicuring units have also been commercially offered andsuch motorized manicuring units often have small, high speed motors inorder to achieve a desired compactness. Since motor torque is a functionof the size of the motor and, especially, since the surface speed of arotating unit is directly related to the tool diameter, for a givenspeed, the tools or abrasive bits of such manicuring units typicallyhave been limited in diameter to less than one-half inch. Thesemanicuring units have not been well accepted by consumers for severalreasons. The very high speeds and the sensible torque reaction have madeit quite difficult for an untrained individual to control such units.Also, the tendency is for the abrasive bit to recoil or to run itselfaway from the nail. This made it almost necessary to provide additionalguidance for the controlling hand, such as by the use of a second handas an additional guiding means. White this is feasible when the unitsare used by a second person, it is clearly unsuitable when it is desiredto use the unit for self-manicure operations. These high-speed,small-diameter bits also involve the danger or tendency to groove or to“scallop” the nail if they are presented against the nail with too muchforce or for too long a time. Therefore, any distraction or inattentionfrequently would result in the formation of a small-diameter arc-shapeddeformation of the nail, in contrast to the desired sculpturing beingattempted.

Generally, seeking assistance from powered devices in the care offingernails and toenails has not heretofore been an easy task, due tothe fact that natural or artificial fingernails and toenails aretypically curved and have one of a wide range of overall shapes.Depending upon the person, the nail surfaces can be relatively larger orsmaller, uneven or smoother, or with or without ridges. These variationsin nail geometries and surface topographies present a challenge fordesigning an apparatus that can effectively handle these variationswhile nonetheless offering a more appealing alternative than individualmanual sanding, buffing, or otherwise altering differently shaped nailsurfaces.

An individual manual operation by a person to alter the surface of anatural or artificial fingernail or toenail typically involvescyclically moving an abrasive surface of a nail file or the like backand forth across the surface of the nail. A predetermined degree ofpressure must be applied to ensure that the abrasive surface of the nailfile or the like adequately reduces the contacted nail surface. Thecontact area engaged by the abrasive surface of the nail file or thelike varies as a function of the nail geometry and surface topographyincluding the overall curvature of the nail surface, the degree ofpressure applied against the nail surface, and the speed and theuniformity of the stroke force of the abrasive surface of the nail fileor the like on the nail surface. While nail care implements such asmetallic nail files or emery boards are widely used, the abrasivesurfaces of such implements engage only a small portion of a curved nailsurface during the passage of the abrasive surface along the nail in agiven stroke. These implements operate tangentially to the curved nailsurface and thus call for sufficient dexterity by the person or themanicurist to reliably move the abrasive surface of the implement in asatisfactory manner over the entirety of the nail surface. Moreover,such implements may fail to adequately work or reduce the nail surfacein an even manner, leaving the nail surface with unwanted depressionsand projections.

In spite of the earlier nail care and manicuring approaches that havebeen proposed, those who have manicured hands and fingernails,especially women, know all too well of the amount of time and effortspent in maintaining a well-manicured appearance. Even those who are notas scrupulous with respect to fingernail appearance are well advised topractice a normal routine of cleaning, trimming, filing, buffing andpolishing the nails. The act of cleaning, filing, buffing and polishingone's nails consumes a great deal of time and effort. The use of aconventional nail files and other manual grooming utensils is tedious,requiring the user to apply a consistent filing force on the nail in anattempt to achieve a smooth, uniform appearance. Quite often, however,the desired result is difficult to achieve due to the tendency of theuser to apply the file at varying pressures and speeds. Accordingly,there is a need for a better approach via which manicured fingernails ortoenails can be obtained in a quick and convenient manner and that canbe reliably repeated to achieve the same desired appearance and healthpromoting benefits.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present invention is to provide a nail care methodand, more particularly, a nail care method for treating the surface of afingernail or a toenail to produce a nail having a smooth and desirablyglossy appearance while minimizing the application of non-naturalmaterials to the nail surface.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a nail carestation operable to perform the method of the present invention.

In connection with further details of the steps of the nail care methodof the present invention, the method comprises a surface engaging step,a nail contact step, and a buffing or polishing step.

In connection with further details of the step of engaging a surface ofa nail, this step includes engaging a surface of the nail with a movingprofile at an engagement location in a manner in which the surface ofthe nail and the moving profile move relative to one another as viewedalong a contact plane that is perpendicular to an alignment planeintersecting the nail and the moving profile and passing through theengagement location, the engagement of the surface of the nail and themoving profile effecting a reduction in the thickness of the surface ofthe nail.

In connection with further details of the step of contacting the nailsurface, this step includes contacting the surface of the nail with amoving profile in a manner that promotes retention of an additivematerial on or in the nail, the additive material being initiallydisposed onto the moving profile alone, the surface of the nail alone,or onto both the moving profile and the surface of the nail prior tocontact of the surface of the nail with the moving profile.

In connection with further details of the step of buffing or polishingthe nail surface, this step includes bringing the surface of the nail,with the additive material retained on or in the nail, into buffingcontact with a moving profile in a manner which causes a decrease of theroughness of the surface of the nail.

According to optional features of the method of the present invention,the method may further include the step of engaging the surface of thenail with a moving profile having a greater coarseness than the movingprofile with which the surface of the nail is contacted during the stepof contacting the surface of the nail with a moving profile in a mannerthat promotes retention of an additive material on or in the nail.Further in this regard, the step of engaging a surface of the nail witha moving profile at an engagement location can optionally includeengaging the surface of the nail with a moving profile having pumiceand, additionally, the step of contacting the surface of the nail with amoving profile in a manner that promotes retention of an additivematerial on or in the nail includes contacting the surface of the nailwith a moving profile having a cotton material.

Other aspects, embodiments and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description which, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrate the principles ofthe invention by way of example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention, as well as the invention itself, will be more fullyunderstood from the following description of various embodiments whenread together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a right side top perspective view of a nail care station thatis operable to implement the nail care method of the present invention:

FIG. 2 is a right side top perspective view, in partial section, of thenail care station shown in FIG. 1 and showing some of the components ofthe nail care station within its housing;

FIG. 3 is a front plan view of the nail care station shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top elevational view of the nail care station shown in FIG.1;

FIG. 5 is a left side top perspective view of the nail care stationshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view of the nail care station shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of the nail care station shown in FIG.1; and

FIG. 8 is a right side top perspective view, in partial section, of thenail care station shown in FIG. 1 and showing the hand of a user of thenail care station.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The inventive method for caring for a nail will be described withreference to one possible sequence of steps that may be performed tocarry out the nail care method of the present invention, it beingunderstood that other step sequences are acceptable as well. Tofacilitate an understanding of the inventive method for caring for anail, reference is also had to an exemplary nail care station that isoperable to implement the nail care method and this exemplary nail carestation is shown FIGS. 1-7. Additionally, reference is also had to FIG.8, which is a perspective view of the exemplary nail care station andalso showing the hand of a user of the nail care station.

The inventive method for caring for a nail comprises a number of stepsand the method can be varied to include additional steps, as desired bythe user, who may be a person performing the method to take care of hisor her own nails or a manicurist taking care of the nails of anotherperson. An overall description will first be provided herein of theexemplary nail care station, hereinafter generally designated as theexemplary nail care station 210, so that one example of the performanceof the inventive method for caring for a nail via the exemplary nailcare station 210 can then be understood.

The nail care station 210 includes a housing 212 that is formed withsuitable mounting structures for mounting and supporting a number ofcomponents of the nail care station 210 within the housing and extendingfrom the housing. A dual output electric motor 214 is mounted within thehousing 212, as seen in FIG. 2, and includes a left hand mountingmandrel 216 and a right hand mounting mandrel 218, both of which arecoaxial with one another and are preferably formed as the respectiveleft hand and right hand axial end portions of a single cylindrical rod.The electric motor 214 includes a stator and rotor assembly in which thesingle cylindrical rod is centrally located and the stator and rotorassembly are operable according to the basic principles of stator androtor operations to effect rotation of the single cylindrical rod ineither a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction.

A finish step wheel 220 is fixedly secured to the free end of the lefthand mounting mandrel 216 for rotation therewith and a surface reductionwheel 222 is fixedly secured to the free end of the right hand mountingmandrel 218 for rotation therewith. The nail care station 210 ispreferably configured so that the finish step wheel 220 and the surfacereduction wheel 222 can each be conveniently removed from theirrespective mounted dispositions of the left hand mounting mandrel 216and the right hand mounting mandrel 213 so that each wheel can becleaned, refurbished, or dried or stored in a storage location.Additionally, convenient removal of the finish step wheel 220 and thesurface reduction wheel 222 permits alternate wheels to be mounted onthe let hand mounting mandrel 216 or the right hand mounting mandrel218.

As seen in FIG. 7, a cord 224 having a three prong wall plug extendsthrough an access port in the housing 212 and has an end lead 226 thatis connected to a switch control 228. A control dial 230 is rotatablymounted to the housing 212 and is electrically connected via anelectrical lead 232 to the switch control 228. The wall plug of the cord224 can be plugged Into a wall outlet (not shown) to thereby providealternating electrical current to the electric motor 214 via the switchcontrol 228, which is responsive to various settings of the control dial230 to thereby control the supply of electrical current to the electricmotor 214 and thus control the rate of rotation (revolutions perminute). The switch control 228 is also responsive to the control dial230 to control the direction of rotation (clockwise or counterclockwise)of the left hand mounting mandrel 216 and the right hand mountingmandrel 213. The finish step wheel 220 and the surface reduction wheel222 of the nail care station 210 are selectively brought into rotatingcontact with the nails of a user in accordance with the inventive methodfor caring for a nail, as will now be described in more detail.

The inventive method for caring for a nail can be performed by a user tocare for fingernails and toenails and the method has utility for bothnatural nails and artificial nails. For the purposes of illustration,the inventive method for caring for a nail will be described in greaterdetail with reference to an application of the method to treat thenatural fingernails NA-10, NA-12, etc. of a user. The inventive methodfor caring for a nail, hereinafter generally designated as the nail caremethod 110, comprises a surface engaging step 112 that involves engaginga surface of the nail with a moving profile at an engagement location ina manner in which the surface of the nail and the moving profile moverelative to one another as viewed along a contact plane that isperpendicular to an alignment plane intersecting the nail and the movingprofile and passing through the engagement location, the engagement ofthe surface of the nail and the moving profile effecting a reduction inthe thickness of the surface of the nail. With reference to FIG. 8, itcan be seen that the nail care station 210 is operable to perform thisstep of the nail care method 110 in that the surface reduction wheel 222of the nail care station 210 operates as a moving profile that engages asurface of the nail NA-10 at an engagement location EN-LOC (shown inbroken lines in FIG. 8) in a manner in which the surface of the nailNA-10 and the surface reduction wheel 222 move relative to one anotheras viewed along a contact plane CO-PL that is perpendicular to analignment plane AL-PL intersecting the nail NA-10 and the surfacereduction wheel 222 and passing through the engagement location EN-LOC.The engagement of the surface of the nail NA-10 and the surfacereduction wheel 222 effects a reduction in the thickness of the surfaceof the nail.

The surface reduction wheel 222 of the nail care station 210 ispreferably configured with a suitable abrading material as its outerradial periphery and this abrading material should advantageouslytraverse the nail NA-10 to effect an efficient but controllablereduction in the thickness of the surface of the nail. An example of asuitable abrading material is pumice, which may be disposed in arelatively dry condition or wetted to be in a relatively moistcondition. Other examples of suitable abrasive materials are kaolin,finely divided clay, diatomaceous earth, calcium carbonate, talc,chromium oxide, iron oxide and the like.

Following the engagement of the surface of the nail NA-10 with thesurface reduction wheel 222 at the engagement location EN-LOC, anotherstep of the nail care method 110 is performed that comprises contactingthe surface of the nail with a moving profile in a manner that promotesretention of an additive material on or in the nail, the additivematerial being initially disposed onto the moving profile alone, thesurface of the nail alone, or onto both the moving profile and thesurface of the nail prior to contact of the surface of the nail with themoving profile. With continuing reference to FIG. 8, it can be seen thatthe nail care station 210 is operable to perform this step of the nailcare method 110 in that the finish step wheel 220 of the nail carestation 210 operates as a moving profile that engages a surface of thenail NA-10 in a manner that promotes retention of an additive materialon or in the nail. The additive material can be, for example, a highpolish wax material applied to the nail NA-10 before the nail is movedinto engagement with the finish step wheel 220.

After the step of the nail care method 110 via which the surface of thenail NA-10 has been contacted by the finish step wheel 220 of the nailcare station 210, another step of the nail care method 110 is performedthat comprises bringing the surface of the nail, with the additivematerial retained on or in the nail, into buffing contact with a movingprofile in a manner which causes a decrease of the roughness of thesurface of the nail. To this end, the surface reduction wheel 222 is nowpreferably configured with a dry cotton material as its outer radialperiphery and this dry cotton material advantageously brushes along thenail NA-10 to effect an efficient but controllable buffing action on thesurface of the nail NA-10. In this connection, the buffing action mayoperate to enhance or bring out the polish properties of the additivematerial on or in the nail—i.e., the light reflectivity of the additivematerial may be increased by the buffing action. The buffing action canbeneficially force the additive material into the depressions, swales,valleys between ridges, and other lower spots on the surface of the nailNA-10. The nail NA-10 is thus left with a desirable smooth and manicuredappearance.

As noted, the nail care method 110 can include particular refinementsthat further contribute to the positive impact of the method. In thisregard, in connection with the step of engaging a surface of the nailwith a moving profile at an engagement location, the nail care method110 can optionally include engaging the surface of the nail with amoving profile having a greater coarseness than the moving profile withwhich the surface of the nail is contacted during the step of contactingthe surface of the nail with a moving profile in a manner that promotesretention of an additive material on or in the nail. Further in thisregard, the step of engaging a surface of the nail with a moving profileat an engagement location can optionally include engaging the surface ofthe nail with a moving profile having pumice and, additionally, the stepof contacting the surface of the nail with a moving profile in a mannerthat promotes retention of an additive material on or in the nailincludes contacting the surface of the nail with a moving profile havinga cotton material. Still further in this regard, the step of contactingthe surface of the nail with a moving profile in a manner that promotesretention of an additive material on or in the nail can optionallyinclude disposing a polishing material onto the moving profile, thesurface of the nail, or both the moving profile and the surface of thenail prior to contact of the surface of the nail with the movingprofile. In all of these optional approaches, the additive material canbe a wax.

The additive material can include wax materials whose compositions maybe of animal, vegetable, mineral, or synthetic origin or type. Wax inits dispersed form facilitates application of the dispersion or emulsionto a surface to obtain a uniform film having good gloss and waterresistance. As examples of some useful waxes, there may be mentionedmineral and paraffin waxes, e.g., microcrystalline and oxidizedparaffins, ozocerite and montan wax; animal waxes such as beeswax orwhale wax: synthetic waxes such as high boiling aliphatic esters; andvegetables waxes such as candellila. cuticury, ceresin, palm, andcarnauba.

The housing 212 of the nail care station 210 may be comprised of a rigidplastic or polymeric material, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC),polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, acrylics, cellulosics,acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene terpolymers, urethanes, thermoplasticresins, thermo-plastic elastomers (TPE), acetal resins, polyamides,polycarbonates and polyesters. While many other materials may be usedalone or in combination with the aforementioned materials and/or othermaterials without departing from the scope of the present invention,preferably the material is relatively inexpensive and durable material,easy to use in manufacturing operations, and yielding an aestheticallyacceptable product. The material may further include additives toprovide desired properties such as desired colors and structuralcharacteristics. Also, the nail care station 210 may be produced usingany suitable manufacturing techniques known in the art for the chosenmaterial, such as, for example, injection, compression, structural foam,blow, or transfer molding, vacuum forming, or casting. Preferably themanufacturing technique permits the nail care station 210 to bemanufactured in a mass production manner at relatively low cost perunit, and results in an aesthetically acceptable product with aconsistent acceptable quality.

The magnitude to which the surface of the nail is reduced is a functionof the rate of rotation of the respective finish step wheel or surfacereduction wheel, the material properties of the respective abrasivematerial on the outer periphery of the wheel such as, e.g., thehardness, the grit particle size, and the cushioning, and the infeedvelocity of the nail into the engagement location EN-LOC. With regard tothe buffing or polishing of the nail surface, this operation is afunction of the rate of rotation of the respective finish step wheel orsurface reduction wheel, the dryness or wetness of the outer peripheryof the wheel, the material properties of the cotton or other naturalmaterial or synthetic material on the outer periphery of the wheel, andthe pressure of the wheel on the nail surface. In both a surfacereduction operation and a buffing or polishing operation, a relativelyslower rate of rotation, a relatively lower pressure of the wheel on thenail surface, and a relatively dryer material will typically minimize ordecrease the rate at which material is abraded from the nail surface.

With respect to controlling the speed of the wheels rotated by theelectric motor 214, the control dial 230 can be configured to linearlyincrease the rate of rotation of the finish step wheel or the surfacereduction wheel 222 as the control dial 230 is rotated in a clockwisedirection. With further regard to controlling the speed of the wheelsrotated by the electric motor 214, known speed reduction ormultiplication arrangements can be provided that reduce or increase therotational speed and the torque output of the electric motor 214.Additionally, a debris shield can be mounted adjacent the wheels toconstrain the degree to which abraded material is cast away from thenail care station 210. As desired, ergonomic rest structures such as,for example, a wrist rest, can be provided on which a user may rest hisor her wrist while a nail is in contact or engagement with a wheel.Additionally, the nail care station 210 can be configured to besupported in a stable manner on a countertop or a table surface. To thisend, the nail care station 210 can be provided with a plurality ofsuction cup feet, as seen in FIG. 7, that can be releasably secured to aflat surface such as a countertop or a table surface.

The nail care method of the present invention should be appealing toboth commercial nail treatment businesses and individual home useconsumers for the reasons that the method permits a labor saving use ofa powered nail care apparatus and the method produces a desirablehigh-gloss look of the fingernails or toenails that, if desired, can beachieved using only natural substances.

The present invention also extends to an apparatus and consumableproducts kit that is comprised of a combination of a nail care device,such as, for example, the nail care station 210, and an additivematerial, such as, for example, a polish stick, with both the nail caredevice and the additive material being suitable for executing the methodof the present invention. As desired, such an apparatus and consumableproducts kit can include an illustrated instruction sheet for guiding auser in the deployment of the kit components to perform the method ofthe present invention.

The teachings of this application are not to be construed as beinglimited to any particular apparatus, apparatus and consumable productskit, or any method of configuring a apparatus or an apparatus andconsumable products kit. While various embodiments of the invention havebeen described and illustrated herein, it is to be distinctly understoodthat the invention is not limited thereto, but may be otherwisevariously embodied and practiced within the scope of the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for treating a nail, the methodcomprising: engaging a surface of the nail with a moving profile at anengagement location in a manner in which the surface of the nail and themoving profile move relative to one another as viewed along a contactplane that is perpendicular to an alignment plane intersecting the nailand the moving profile and passing through the engagement location, theengagement of the surface of the nail and the moving profile effecting areduction in the thickness of the surface of the nail; following theengagement of the surface of the nail with the moving profile at theengagement location, contacting the surface of the nail with a movingprofile in a manner that promotes retention of an additive material onor in the nail, the additive material being initially disposed onto themoving profile, the surface of the nail, or both the moving profile andthe surface of the nail prior to contact of the surface of the nail withthe moving profile; and thereafter bringing the surface of the nail,with the additive material retained on or in the nail, into buffingcontact with a moving profile in a manner which causes a decrease of theroughness of the surface of the nail.
 2. The method according to claim1, wherein the step of engaging a surface of the nail with a movingprofile at an engagement location includes engaging the surface of thenail with a moving profile having a greater coarseness than the movingprofile with which the surface of the nail is contacted during the stepof contacting the surface of the nail with a moving profile in a mannerthat promotes retention of an additive material on or in the nail. 3.The method according to claim 2, wherein the step of engaging a surfaceof the nail with a moving profile at an engagement location includesengaging the surface of the nail with a moving profile having pumice andthe step of contacting the surface of the nail with a moving profile ina manner that promotes retention of an additive material on or in thenail includes contacting the surface of the nail with a moving profilehaving a cotton material.
 4. The method according to claim 3, whereinthe step of contacting the surface of the nail with a moving profile ina manner that promotes retention of an additive material on or in thenail includes disposing a polishing material onto the moving profile,the surface of the nail, or both the moving profile and the surface ofthe nail prior to contact of the surface of the nail with the movingprofile.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the additivematerial is a wax material.
 6. A nail care station comprising: a surfacereducing moving profile having an abrasive portion on its periphery; apolish moving profile having a polish promoting surface portion on itsperiphery; and a motive power source for moving the surface reducingmoving profile in a manner in which the abrasive portion on theperiphery of the surface reducing moving profile repeatedly passesthrough an engagement location and operable to move the polish movingprofile in a manner in which the polish promoting portion on theperiphery of the polish moving profile repeatedly passes through anengagement location, the motive power source (a) operating to bring thesurface reducing moving profile in engagement with a surface of a nailof a user at the engagement location in a manner in which the surface ofthe nail and the surface reducing moving profile move relative to oneanother as viewed along a contact plane that is perpendicular to analignment plane intersecting the nail and the surface reducing movingprofile and passing through the engagement location, the engagement ofthe surface of the nail and the surface reducing moving profileeffecting a reduction in the thickness of the surface of the nail, (b),operating bring the polish promoting portion on the periphery of thepolish moving profile into contact with the nail, following theengagement of the surface of the nail with the surface reducing movingprofile, in a manner that promotes retention of an additive material onor in the nail, the additive material being initially disposed onto thepolish moving profile, the surface of the nail, or both the polishmoving profile and the surface of the nail prior to contact of thesurface of the nail with the polish moving profile, and (c) operating tobring a moving profile into buffing contact with the surface of thenail, with the additive material retained on or in the nail, in a mannerwhich causes a decrease of the roughness of the surface of the nail. 7.The nail care station according to claim 8, wherein the motive powersource includes a pair of rotatable mandrels, each mandrel for mountingat least one of the surface reducing moving profile and the polishmoving profile.
 8. The nail care station according to claim 7, whereineach of the surface reducing moving profile and the polish movingprofile includes an annular outer periphery and the motive power sourceis operable to rotate each mandrel so that the annular outer peripheryof each of the surface reducing moving profile and the polish movingprofile rotates through the engagement location.
 9. The nail carestation according to claim 8, wherein the motive power source includes acylindrical rod having a pair of axial ends and the pair of rotatablemandrels are each mounted to a respective axial end of the cylindricalrod.
 10. The nail care station according to claim 9, wherein the motivepower source is an electric motor.
 11. An apparatus and consumableproducts kit comprising: a consumable polish base material that can beapplied to a nail of a user to promote a polished appearance of thenail; and a nail care station including; a surface reducing movingprofile having an abrasive portion on its periphery; a polish movingprofile having a polish promoting surface portion on its periphery; anda motive power source for moving the surface reducing moving profile ina manner in which the abrasive portion on the periphery of the surfacereducing moving profile repeatedly passes through an engagement locationand operable to move the polish moving profile in a manner in which thepolish promoting portion on the periphery of the polish moving profilerepeatedly passes through an engagement location, the motive powersource (a) operating to bring the surface reducing moving profile in aengagement with a surface of a nail of a user at the engagement locationin a manner in which the surface of the nail and the surface reducingmoving profile move relative to one another as viewed along a contactplane that is perpendicular to an alignment plane intersecting the nailand the surface reducing moving profile and passing through theengagement location, the engagement of the surface of the nail and thesurface reducing moving profile effecting a reduction in the thicknessof the surface of the nail, (b), operating to bring the polish promotingportion on the periphery of the polish moving profile into contact withthe nail, following the engagement of the surface of the nail with thesurface reducing moving profile, in a manner that promotes retention ofan additive material on or in the nail, the additive material beinginitially disposed onto the polish moving profile, the surface of thenail, or both the polish moving profile and the surface of the nailprior to contact of the surface of the nail with the polish movingprofile, and (c) operating to bring a moving profile into buffingcontact with the surface of the nail, with the additive materialretained on or in the nail, in a manner which causes a decrease of theroughness of the surface of the nail.